Ramzan Kadyrov invites British citizens to visit Chechnya

Last Friday, the British Foreign Office published on its website an advisory to citizens of the United Kingdom not to visit the North Caucasus republics

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The British Foreign Office has warned the country’s citizens against travelling to the North Caucasus - according to one of the versions, in connection with the ongoing actions there in support of the Boston terrorists - the Tsarnayev brothers. The Kommersant daily writes that the authorities of the North Caucasus republics have painfully reacted to this document, and representatives of the Stavropol Territory suspected official London of “envying the dynamically developing Russian region.” And the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has invited the British people to come to the territory controlled by him and see it for themselves: it is much safer in Grozny than in London.

Last Friday, the British Foreign Office published on its website an advisory to citizens of the United Kingdom not to visit the North Caucasus republics and some areas of the Stavropol Territory in the near future because of the “complex internal political situation and terrorist threats,” as well as “high street crime risks.”

In addition, the newspaper notes, London expects possible “political actions” in the near future “in Moscow, St. Petersburg, in the North Caucasus and other regions of Russia.” It did not specify what kind of actions may take place, however, according to experts, it may refer to actions in support of the organisers and perpetrators of the Boston terrorist attack - the Tsarnayev brothers underway in the North Caucasus. For instance, unknown persons placed in Grozny posters and leaflets urging to provide assistance to the surviving Dzhokhar Tsarnayev - the younger brother.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has denied the British authorities’ statements about the troubled situation in the republic led by him, writing in his Twitter blog that Chechnya wants to see British citizens as its guests. “The British Foreign Office advises not to visit the North Caucasus. I declare with all responsibility that Chechnya is safer than England! Welcome!” Kadyrov writes in his microblog.

The authorities of other North Caucasus republics and the Stavropol Territory also did not overlook the statement issues by the British Foreign Office. Head of the Committee on interethnic relations and religious organisations of the People’s Assembly (parliament) of Dagestan Kamil Davdiyev explained that “the prohibition applies to the whole Russia,” because “Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia are subjects of the Russian Federation.” Davdiyev “as an MP and resident of Dagestan” is confident that the warnings of the British Foreign Office “are absolutely unfounded.”

Governor of the Stavropol Territory Valery Zerenkov for his part pledged that “the Stavropol Territory is a quiet region that annually receives thousands of foreign citizens from Europe, America and other parts of the world,” which is confirmed by “the growing volume of foreign investment.”

And member of the Stavropol Territorial parliament from the United Russia party Mikhail Kuzmin, who is in charge of the tourism sphere, even assessed the advisory of the British Foreign Office as “a manifestation of envy” and advised the British authorities “to better take care of security in their own country.”